Pratt & Miller Engineering & Fabrication, LLC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: A16-071

Description

Ground vehicle interiors are decreasing in size making evacuation of an injured Soldier following an event without inducing further injury increasingly difficult. The government is interested in a new seat that can be internally mounted, multifunctional, and detachable, equipped with a restraint harness that, as a system, shall mitigate blast related injuries (overloading of the spine, pelvis, etc.) to the Soldier from explosive hazards. Our objective is to develop a seat that will protect and accommodate the Soldier in an event, and enable evacuation of an injured Soldier post-event without extraction from the seat. In Phase I, we plan to define and determine the technical feasibility of developing a blast attenuating seat that is lightweight and easily removable from the vehicle without special tools while stabilizing the Soldiers head and spine. The seat will protect and accommodate the central 90th percentile Soldier population while fully encumbered and be durable enough to handle the rugged conditions encountered by ground vehicles.